Where will these languages take me...and what to see while there?

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Ok, I've got a pretty good list going right now for Germany. I found a website with awesome info on a whole bunch of castles along the Rhine River. I think it'll make a great day trip driving along the Rhein hitting a bunch of great looking castles. I also have a bunch of spots in Munich.

I've only looked along the Rhein River and in Munich...so I haven’t touched on Berlin or Hamburg yet. Maybe I'll start looking in to those cities this weekend on my days off.

I'm still open to ideas for places to go in England, Scotland, Germany, Hungary (Budapest), the Czech Republic (Prague), and maybe the Netherlands (Amsterdam).

 

Hey, what about Ireland!

 

Amsterdam is overrated. Sure there is the Red Light District (a.k.a. Europe's main tourist hotspot for whores and drugs. Did you know they actually have tours over the Red Light District for tourists?), but that hardly gives a proper view of the Netherlands. Besides that, there are art and historical museums in Amsterdam (and of course a sex museum in the Red Light District ), but there are much nicer places in The Netherlands to visit. If you do however find yourself in Amsterdam, take a guided boat tour over the canals, it will show you all around the center of Amsterdam and give you a bit of historical information. Oh, and enjoy the bicycle madness

As for language: everybody here speaks English. If you do find an older person who doesn't speak English: nine out of ten of them speak pretty good German.

 

No problem Uytuun. I guess I can understand why some people are annoyed by the French because I sometimes share that sentiment (yeah, I hate myself, lol). I don't like Paris and I find that the people who live there tend to be smug and give a bad image of the French population. That being said I guess I'm prejudiced agaisnt them. Last time I've been there I met some nice and friendly people but others were just obnoxious. You have to take the good with the bad I guess... I don't like this place, it's too big, too impersonal, so big in fact that you can stay for weeks and never see the same faces twice. And I'm rather annoyed that it's still the administrative centre of the country meaning that if you want to *exist* you still have to go there. Grumble.

True. Of course Mesmero is right about the Dutch, and to some extent it applies to Germany as well. Just don't expect people in other parts of Europe (especially Southern Europe, including Italy and France) to be fluent in English.

A Scottish friend of mine told me that learning German was useless since everywhere he went in Germany everybody would speak a rather good English.

My advice to Kitrax would be to try and pick up a few words in the languages of the different countries which will be visited. Greeting someone in their language works nicely as an icebreaker, after that you can always try and switch back to English.

 

I think Italy would be best seen from a crusie ship. Maybe later on in life...but for now, I can pass. Besides, while Venice is slowly sinking, the rest of the country will still be there in 15 to 20 years.

And as for Ireland... Neither I nor Jessica have any Irish in our blood. Besides that, I've just nerver heard anything interesting about the place that would make me *want* to go there.

 

Well, you should see the Alps at least once if you can afford it. Some very nice spots including la mer de glace (just like the sea of moving ice in IWD!). Here is a view from a peak, but don't worry, you don't have to be an alpinist to see it, it's rather easy to get there. Sure it's not Utah and you don't get the desert at the foot of the mountain.
But with global warming there is no telling what is going to happen to my beloved mountains.

 

We took our three year old to England last month. He loved Legoland. So travelling doesn't have to end when you have children.

There is SO much to see in Europe that it is hard to pick favourites. My personal favourite is probably Tuscany in Italy. That is awesome, but you've already said you don't want to go there.

It's great if you can experience elements of local culture (that's REAL local culture, not tourist local culture). So in England, make sure you visit some country pubs and try a local ale. Nobody does an ale and a pub meal like an English country pub. If you're then when a soccer game is on, even better.

You could wander around London alone for a month and keep finding new and fascinating things. So much history there, it blows your mind.

 

Just a sidenote: Do not be offended by grumpy "Berliners". Grumpy is our natural state of mind.

 

Actually...we plan on hitting up as many local pubs as we can. We both think that American beer (i.e. Budwiser) is nasty...so we want to see if all the hype of European beer is true.

 

That's a great idea, that's one of those things I take for granted and would never have thought to recommend. The only problem is, is that in and around touristy areas you'll get pubs 'masquerading' as a good local country pub, but really it's just to entice the tourists and their stuff is all processed crap. You often need to get a bit more 'out' to get that stuff.

If you're into theme parks, Alton Towers is your best bet, but that's in Staffordshire (a good few hours from London). It's a great day out though at Alton Towers though. Maybe you'd like the Royal Armoury as well? The best one of those is in Leeds IMO. If you want old castles as stuff, Wales is probably your best bet.

The good thin about Britain is that it's so small that it doesn't take long to travel around and see everything. A lot of the good stuff is outside of London. I mean, stuff like Madam Tussuad's is just bloody boring. As is Buckingham Palace and all that stuff if you ask me - but the tourists lap it up!!

 

Hmmmmm....a theme park. I hadn't thought about that. I'll have to shoot that idea past the wife. I'm alread convinced, but I might have to talk her in to it.

 

Glad you're looking at coming round this neck of the woods, Kit.

If you want to visit a theme park, make it Legoland in Windsor (if not Windsor, Legoland all the same). You'll be surrounded by tiny children fascinated by blocks.

Nowhere else on earth will you see such a spectacle.

 

Actually...I went to the Legoland in California about a year after it was built. While the lego art was cool...I wasn't impressed. When I go to a theme park, I want insane rides that make you want to scream, "Holy SH**!!! We're all going to die!!!!!!!!!"

 

I would definitely recommend substituting Brussels instead of Amsterdam. I definitely think that Amsterdam is highly overrated. Amsterdam does have some very nice museums but given that you say that you are not really interested in museums that isn't a factor. The central area in Brussels on the other hand is spectacular. Based upon my recommendation several of my colleagues at work went to Brussels for the week-end during our last London audit and they all loved it. Also based upon my recommendation my brother and several of his friends went there and they had a great time too.

I strongly recommend Berlin. Budapest is nice but I think Prague is overrated. Vienna is well worth a visit.

As far as Ireland is concerned, there are a lot of very interesting things to see there.

 

Now Legoland is COOL. If you have a kid under 10 with you, that is. 3 year old Harbourboy Jr loved every minute of it and the whole thing is really well done.

But it would be a complete waste of time for Kitrax to go there.

 

Brussels is nothing. If your'e going to Belgium it's Brugge you have to see. It's probably the most beautefull city i've visited along with some villages in tuscany. It's a medival habour city with streets of cobblestone. And I believe it's a must to have visited. And belgian beer is among the best of the world among with the english and czech. That is for the beer lover. The binge drinker should probably look elsewhere.

 

Brugge does pwn Brussels. I was walking around in Brussels earlier today and I really don't like the city. But then again, that's also related to other factors besides it not being that overwhelmingly pretty.

Brugge is just absolutely beautiful. It's the capital of my province, so I go there very often. It never fails to amaze me. It has swans in the little canals, you can go sightseeing per boat or carriage, there are many interesting musea. It was cultural capital of Europe in 2002 IIRC. It's also my favourite place to go shopping. Everyone in Brugge speaks English.

The other side of the coin is that it is very touristy of course.

Here's their site: www.brugge.be

 

<But it would be a complete waste of time for Kitrax to go there.>


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No it wouldn't. We went there when I was 15 and I loved it, and would go again with or without the kids!